


paint my nails, tell me a story

by xllx (exasperatedmoron)



Category: SKAM (France)
Genre: Drabble, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Nail Polish, Pre-Relationship, no beta we go down like fifi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:25:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23250136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exasperatedmoron/pseuds/xllx
Summary: elu but lucas paints his nails
Relationships: Eliott Demaury/Lucas Lallemant
Comments: 8
Kudos: 88





	paint my nails, tell me a story

**Author's Note:**

> dedicated to my maman and girls as a lil sumn to brighten up the quarantine days (jtm ro)

Lucas has been painting his nails practically his whole life. Ever since Anne ‘I’m so pretty no one can compare’ Bisset flaunted her pink nails during recess back when he was 7, he never went a week without having some kind of polish on his nails. Always done to perfection, unlike  _ Anne _ .

It went from being a thing to spite her, since she also said ‘it’s not for boys’, to something he actually enjoyed. He enjoyed sitting in bed with his maman while she did his nails and told him stories of when she was a little girl. It was one of the few happy moments in his childhood.

Not even his father could stop him. He did try, but Lucas would always find a way to do it. Even if he had to resort to using markers and paint when his father tried to take the polish away. Eventually Mr Lallemant gave up and Lucas smugly wore neon green polish to their family gathering the next week.

After his maman started to get sick more often, Lucas learnt how to put them on himself using the techniques his maman would use. It started out  _ really _ messy. On some days, he would even forget that his nails were not dry yet then comb his hand through his hair.

It took a while, but he got the hang of it. Base coat, polish, polish, top coat, hands on the pillow while watching 3 episodes of Spongebob, or one of Oui Oui. A simple routine. He never really cared about nail art. Tried it once, but simple colours were his thing (unless he wanted to spite someone, of course.)

Everyone in his life just took it in stride. While Yann and him met because they were assigned to sit beside each other, it was Lucas’ nails that started their conversation. At the end of the day, Lucas was dragging Yann home to do his nails.

When he entered lycee, he did worry for a while about what his new classmates would say. By then, he knew some of the stereotypes about ‘boys doing girly things’. He also knew he was gay, and he did not want people to assume that of him. Especially when he was not out yet. As it turns out, no one cared. “It’s just nails, Lulu. It’s not like you’re walking into school with a clown wig,” Yann commented when Lucas tucked his hands into his hoodie after a classmate saw it and looked away.

His new friends were chill about it, too. Arthur even shared how his little sister would do his nails for him and he’d keep them until his nails grew too long and he had to cut them off. Even when they were all over the place, since she was barely 6. Basile just asked if he could try it out one day.

Lucas was always wearing nail polish, even if he wasn’t wearing a colour, he had some transparent coat on. Yann would wear it occasionally when Lucas or Emma would offer to do them (always black, though) and Arthur would sometimes come to school with messy nails. Basile thought they all looked cool but it was never his thing.

The girl squad accepted him with open arms when their groups started to merge. No one mentioned Lucas’ nails, probably since by the time they got to know him, they’ve already seen him countless times with it. And probably because Lucas did Manon’s nails most of the time.

The first time it was mentioned was when Alexia chipped a nail and Lucas pulled out a file to fix it. He told them the story of  _ Anne the Ass _ and how his maman taught him everything he knew, which included fixing a chipped nail. They ended up sitting there for hours talking about their childhood and happy family memories.

He never felt weird for having his nails done. Especially since moving in with Mika. Nothing can be weird when you lived with him. Lucas was confident that even if Mika was a straight, white, business man, he’d be the most flamboyant one of all. Mika’s dramatics did not come from his identity, it came from him being him.

Then, Eliott Demaury walked into the common room and nearly gave Lucas an aneurysm.

Lucas could not help but stare at the tall boy in the brown jacket. Not only was he  _ extremely _ good looking, but when he smiled at Daphne’s friend who showed him his seat, Lucas swore right then and there his gay meter reached it’s peak.

Yann tried to shake him out of his haze but Lucas watched the mystery guy sit down a row behind him and  _ turn to face him _ . Lucas did not know what to do, say, or how to breathe. The mystery boy just looked at him for a few seconds and smiled.

Lucas managed to snap out and lift one hand to wave at the guy when the guy’s eyes saw Lucas’ hand. The guy seemed to short circuit for a second and snapped his head to the front.

Lucas brought down his hand, confused and quite frankly, disappointed. He learnt a long time ago that some people are going to be judgemental and that should not bother him since the important people in his life support him in what he does. There was a small inkling of hope that he could have gotten to know the mystery boy, but he did not want to deal with a judgemental person (no matter how hot they looked). He just stayed and listened to Daphne’s plans for the room, already thinking him and mystery boy would never interact again. He probably thought Lucas was weird and did not want anything to do with him.

He was proven wrong a day later when mystery boy approached him at the bus stop. Lucas saw him at the vending machines but kept walking and sat down to wait for his bus. He offered Lucas a bar of chocolate and when he saw Lucas’ fingers, he chuckled. Lucas had his defenses up, ready for whatever judgemental or stereotypical thing the mystery boy was about to say but relaxed when the boy just said “Orange and blue? Isn’t that a weird combination?”. Lucas just chuckled in response and soon, weird became their thing.

Their thing, as in, Lucas and  _ Eliott _ .

The two of them grew closer and Lucas could not deny the huge, fat, gay crush he had on Eliott. Especially not when le gang kept smirking and ‘coughing’ every time they spotted Eliott in the room, in the cafeteria or in the common room. He was glad that his friends knew he was gay and supported him, he just wish they would shut up every once in a while.

The girls were no better, trying to ‘arrange dates’ by asking them to paint the mural or grab a couch for them. Lucas and Eliott were not idiots, they knew exactly what was going on. Lucas was just too worried to breach the topic of their undeniable attraction to each other because Eliott kept pulling himself away once they got too close.

Then one day, it all came out. Lucas’ family and Eliott’s disorder. Eliott had a manic episode followed by a depressive episode soon after, but Lucas was prepared. He did not know much about what to do, but he stayed by Eliott’s side. He talked to Lucille about her past experiences with Eliott’s episodes, he talked to Basile about his mother and did some research on his own.

It did not make him perfect, though. One day, Eliott got mad at him for ‘acting like an overbearing mother’ and Lucas left. He immediately went back after a few hours, knowing Eliott would need to cool down and Mika was there anyway. Inside, he found Eliott on his bed, facing the window. He asked if he could get in and Eliott just nodded, letting Lucas crawl into bed and wrap his arms around Eliott from the back. He heard and felt Eliott sigh as the taller boy snuggled into him.

Eliott shared how him and his maman used to do that, back when he was first diagnosed. She would lay behind him and hug him while telling him stories. Some were make believe, some were real. Sometimes Eliott would fall asleep and sometimes he wouldn’t. But her presence and voice made the nights easier for him. Lucas shared about his nail sessions with his maman, and how sometimes he would go to her institution and do her nails and tell her stories.

Eliott was quiet for a minute and in a small voice he asked “Would you do that for me?”

Lucas smiled and let go of Eliott for a minute to go and grab his box of polish and equipment from the bathroom. When he got back, Eliott was sitting up and still wrapped up in all the blankets. Lucas smiled as he got on the bed and took Eliott’s right hand.

Lucas told Eliott stories of  _ Anne the Annoying Diva _ , how he met Arthur and Basile, how he got closer to the girl squad, his friendship with Yann and some things that happened before Eliott joined their school. In return, Eliott told Lucas stories of his childhood, his family, his life in his old school, Idriss and Sofiane which turned out to be Imane’s brother, his diagnosis, his episodes and his old relationship with Lucille. Which included the reason they broke up.

“It felt more like settling. I loved her, but I was not  _ in _ love with her.”

“Have you ever been in love, then?”

Lucas swallowed and Eliott just smiled. The two of them kept sharing stories, even long after Lucas was done and Eliott’s nails were dry. Eliott told him about the first time he saw him in the halls and not the common room which prompted Lucas to ask a question.

“Why did you look away when you saw my nails the first time?”

Eliott blushed and looked down as he ran his (thankfully, dry) fingers through his hair. “I was already kinda overwhelmed at how handsome you looked, but seeing you with black nail polish kinda increased your hotness level way too high for me to handle so I… just… kinda couldn't function for a while.”

Lucas grinned and Eliott fumbled with his thumbs. Lucas leaned forward and kissed Eliott’s cheek, dangerously close to Eliott’s lips and lingered for a second. “I thought you were really, really handsome too.”

Lucas felt Eliott’s cheeks get hotter but a smile started to form on Eliott’s face. Eliott leaned back a little but there was still barely any space between their two faces. “Doomed from the beginning, I guess.”

“Apparently so.”

They fell asleep in each other's arms that night, with their hands interlocked. Lucas with his signature black nails and Eliott’s a mixture of many colours on a blue base. Jackson Pollock style. “A beautiful mess” as Eliott liked to describe the man's artwork.

And if they woke up running those fingers through parts of their bodies as they kissed in the morning sun, then they were a beautiful mess indeed.


End file.
